Friday, September 28, 2007

Interbike 2007, the largest bicycling tradeshow in the US, kicked off this week in Las Vegas:

Interbike Is Coming This Week: "The 2007 Interbike trade show is coming to Las Vegas, Nevada... Bikemag.com and the entire Bike magazine crew is preparing to depart for one of the hardest working weeks of our year. Interbike is scheduled to include over 1,000 brands from almost as many exhibitors being shown to nearly 22,000 attendees from over 60 countries." (Via Bikemag.com)

Here are some of the best links of new swag pictures from around the web and that starts with the newest from Crank Brothers:

"The folks at Crank Brothers have been very, very busy over the last year. How busy? Try this: they’ve added wheels, headsets, integrated cranks, a new take on the quick-release skewer…and oh yeah, they’ve also taken over production and distribution of the Speedball adjustable seatpost from Maverick." (Via Bikemag.com)

Here is an incomplete list of Interbike 2007 stories and pics, guaranteed to waste some valuable work time on this Friday morning:

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort today announced plans for its popular mountain bike park for the 2008 season and beyond. Improving on its existing offering, the resort will offer increased lift capacity, new trails suitable for beginners, as well as new advanced trails and features, instructional riding classes, signature bike events, new cross-country trails and more.

Starting in 2008, Northstar Resort will offer beginner trails that run from the Village at Northstar™ up to mid-mountain. Suitable for all ages and ability levels, these family-oriented trails will give riders an opportunity to experience the bike park at their own pace.

The resort has plans to construct a trail similar to LiveWire, it’s first signature downhill trail that features an irrigation system top to bottom, that will be geared toward intermediate riders. LiveWire proved to be a very popular trail among riders during the 2007 season. Taking guest feedback and that of Northstar Resort’s team riders, the trail crew will build another fully irrigated trail that will entice non-expert riders to enjoy the ride.

Also in the plan is the development of a new cross-country trail that will loop behind Lookout Mountain and provide riders with spectacular views of the Martis Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountain range.

In addition to the hosting of its own downhill and cross-country race events, Northstar Resort is interested in bringing larger scale events to the resort. Currently in discussions with Tour de Nez, Northstar Resort is working to bring the popular festival event to the resort in 2008, as well as some other larger scale mountain bike events. Bike park sponsor, Giant Bicycles is also considering introducing road, cross-country and downhill performance clinics to riders at Northstar Resort. Featuring Giant sponsored athletes, the performance clinics would include seminars and ride time with the athletes.

Beyond the 2008 season, Northstar Resort’s five year plan includes more trail irrigation using the existing snowmaking infrastructure, additional on-mountain dining options, daily clinics, the hosting of national and international race events, the continual building of new trails and the upgrading of the existing trail network and infrastructure." (Via Northstar Resort Unveils Plans for Mountain Bike Park in 2008)

"At our last event we had over 50 racers. It's so exciting to see people coming from as far away as the southern Bay Area to ride the rugged terrain at Lake Sonoma's Liberty Glenn Campground. It's also amazing how much hurt you can pack into a technical 5 mile course.

LSS #5 is this coming Saturday and it's the second to the last of the season. Points have been calculated to show the regulars where they stand, and in November for race #6 we're going to hand out some cool bling to the overall winners in each category (whoa that's a lot of bling!!). If you're a regular and you're in the running, you'll want to be there for the next two." (Via BikeMonkey.net)

Monday, September 24, 2007

I've been tracking the Tahoe Sierra 100 rumors for a while and was interested when I heard that it had progressed to a "test ride" for last weekend:

"Several months ago Jim Northey of Global Biorhythm Events contacted me about a route he and his son were mapping out for the 2008 debut Tahoe Sierra 100 which is slated to become next year's championship venue for the NUE MTB Series making it the only sanctioned ultra endurance MTB race in the state of California ... This coming Saturday approximately 40 riders will ascend into the Sierra Nevada mountain range to ride through areas of wilderness where no bikes have ever gone before. Saturday's event is an invitational "pre-ride" of a large portion of the route that will be completed early next year and readied for its official 2008 debut. A handful of riders from Sonoma County are headed up to do the ride. So we will surely hear some great stories within a few days." (via BikeMonkey.net)

Of course, when I saw the ride reports . . . last year's cool race came to mind:

"he stories will start to fly about this one. The snow the cold and the rain. What a hell of a ride. Roger Lackey, Sean Allan, Friz Wisor and Nate Knudson all headed out on the long course. They said at mile 12 the snow hit hard, and the boys in for a hell of a ride. I could go but on, I will let them write in about it. " (via The Tahoe-Sierra 100 was just plain epic!! - Mtbr.com Forum)

Check out the pictures at MTBR. I'm still excited to see this next year.

with a race flyer that has all kinds of details on the race. It looks like it is both a collegiate race and NORBA race. I never saw the results to the August Sky Tavern XC race (although dhRENO had the scaled back DH results), so maybe this is legit. I'll email the organizers and ask.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

With the cancellation of the last CHDH and Northstar winding down in two weeks, the CCCX Fall downhill season is starting up just in time:

2007 Central Coast Downhill Race Fall Series: "Course Profile CCCX DH #1- The first race of the series is going to be a fast one with lots of action to test a riders line selection and skills. Traction will be an issue as the trails are dry and fast and the turns will be very tricky. Each CCCX DH course will test a riders full array of riding ability. There will be some really high speed sections, tight turns, steep trails, and some fun riding single track. Each course in the series will test fitness as well as your downhill skills. For race #1 it will be about a 30 minute walk uphill to the start. Cash will be paid out to the top male riders, and top female riders each race. All divisions eligible for cash payout."

The first CCCX downhill is Sunday, but the course is open Saturday for practice and registration (2:00 pm start). The course will be fully marked and ready to practice at this time. On race day (Sunday), registration opens at 8:00 am and closes at 11:30 am. First timed runs start at 12:00 noon. Pixie and Chainless Divisions will be the last runs of the day (3pm start). Awards will be 30 minutes after final run. Registration is $35/person ($25 for juniors).

New for the Fall Series will be an X-Fusion Shox raffle. It'll be held after the awards and you must be present to win.

Back From the Single Speed Worlds: "In case you have not heard yet, Napa, CA will be the host city for SSWC2008. I threw my hat in the ring, so to speak, and after a lot of stiff competition, somehow I came out the winner ... We will have the date and more details soon."

Here is the video evidence of NorCal's interpretive dance superiority:

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

I haven't seen results from either the Whiskeytown Classic nor Northstar's DH race, but there are a few race reports floating around that I thought I should link to:

MTBR thread on Whiskeytown Classic:"I came in 3rd (Sport 45-49), behind a Joslyn's rider I met at CCCX and have yet to beat. The guy who won said it was his first race this year. Luckily for me, he's not in the points hunt. I'm somewhere in the top 3 in points."

dhRENO's Northstar DH # 4 Race Report : "Another mega fun dh race at Northstar! This time it was mainly down the “Sticks and Stones” trail which made for the longest Pro/Expert course of the series."

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

It is with great disappointment that we must cancel the final CHDH race for 2007 due to environmental issues. California state park officials are not allowing us to build a course for race #3. We are continuing to work with them to try to come up with a solution for future races at Carnegie.

As a result, series points have been totaled and series champions will be declared. We’ll be contacting each champion about receiving their awards. Please see following link below for series points results.

Monday, September 10, 2007

So people did think of this before (it's called Cyclocross) but this is still sweet:

Tour de Brew Mountain Bike Race: "Why didn't anyone think of this before? It's absolute genius. Why not bring your mountain bike race right through a brew pub or bar? Maybe even grab a pint on the way through. It would be great for us also-rans that end up in the bottom third of the field. Our new excuse..."yeah I would have podiumed, but they just broke the seal on a new keg of IPA, I just had to give it a try."" (Via Go Clipless)

Tonight was my first race back since getting food poisoning a few weeks ago, so I thought I might share some photos and (hopefully) video from the Prairie City Fall Flash #3.

As most people who have had a significant layoff from racing will tell you, you should prepare for an ass-whooping your first race back. The PCRS crowd did not disappoint. I got out too fast for the first lap, lost the lead pack at the second lap marker and then was on a unpleasant ride for the last lap. I also didn't dial in my rear suspension correctly - the course has a lot of square edge small hits and waterbar like dips - and spent much of the first lap pogo-ing. In with the bad race, I didn't DNF or DFL (I think).

The course was pretty standard for the fall flash races: 2.87 miles per lap and about 220' climbing per lap.

American four-cross and BMX rider Tara Llanes (Giant) broke her back during the third round of the Jeep King of the Mountains series, on Saturday in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Llanes crashed during the semi finals, where she dueled with longtime rival Jill Kintner.

Llanes was airlifted to Denver Health Medical Center where she underwent seven hours of surgery to address the massive trauma suffered on her lower back. Doctors also diagnosed a C-7 fracture which was deemed stable prior going into surgery.

Accoding to her family, Llanes is currently breathing without assistance, but reports no feeling below her waist.